Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the net reduction in eligibility for free school meals in England following the implementation and roll out of universal credit.
Under our new criteria for how free school meals eligibility will operate under Universal Credit, there will be no net reduction in eligibility for free school meals. The department has estimated that, by 2022, around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.